Think The Female Orgasm Is Elusive? Let These 6 Women Explain

For decades, society has marveled over the elusive female orgasm, mostly in the form of questions. How does it work? Why does it happen? Does it even exist?

Thankfully, it does. That's why we asked the women* in the Refinery29 community to tell us, in graphic detail, what their orgasms feel like, and then collaborated with artist Sam Cannon to turn their experiences into evocative GIFs. Of course, orgasms aren't the be-all and end-all of good sex — sex can still be hot, intimate, or otherwise pleasurable without a grand finale — but putting these decidedly female orgasmic experiences into words can be a powerful way for women to send the message: My pleasure matters.

And by putting a visual image to those words? Well, hopefully that message will be loud and clear. Ahead, read how six women describe their orgasms, and take in the, um, explosive GIFs that accompany them.

*All of our respondents were cisgender women, but we want to hear from people of all gender identities. However you identify, please take our quick survey at the end of this story.